Quest Digest 8/12/95 From: ">>-Josh->" <J.P.Gallagher@durham.ac.uk> Date: Fri, 08 Dec 1995 00:00:00 +0000 ___ _ / _ \ | | 8th December 1995 | |_| |UEST__| |IGEST \__ | / _ | | |_ | |_| | An e-mail discussion forum for the fantasy |_ / \___/ play by mail game; "Quest". Compiled by=20 Josh Gallagher. J.P.Gallagher@durham.ac.uk o This isn't one of those automatic list thingies, so could all=20 articles be sent clearly marked with paragraphs initalled to me. o If you want off the list, just say! No hassle, no pressure. o All material here is the exclusive property of the author and may not be used elsewhere without their permission. o For answers to specific Quest-related questions, you may want to get in touch with the Quest Helpline; queries sent to quest-help@kokodan.vivi.c= om will be sent to a panel of experienced Quest players, who will endeavour to answer your problems quickly. Thanks to Bruce Cota for his help. ___ / _ \ Hi there all! Sorry for the delay in brining this one=20 | __/DITORIAL out, I'm back home now having finished uni for x-mas. \___| Bear with me if you will, as my access here is not as=20 good... _ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Ewan Jones" <c2ej@dmu.ac.uk> Date: Fri, 01 Dec 1995 12:31:58 GMT EJ For all new people to the digest and to repeat for those that haven`t ye= t visited, my web site can be found at :- ********************************** * http://www.cms.dmu.ac.uk/~c2ej * ********************************** I am amassing quite a bit of quest stuff on these pages, updates appeari= ng regularly, check it out ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 1 Dec 95 14:48:49 GMT From: Dave Rees <chaos@thanes.demon.co.uk> > This sounds ok, I presume it will be the same quality and maybe printed= =20 > sideways on a page so all you have to do is... fold it!(That`s how it sho= uld > be anyway!) DR> Yep that would be ok as long as it started on a fresh page and not straight after the end of the turn. =20 >=20 > JIM - With regard to monsters being tougher. DR> Are you trying to tell us that you couldn't kill 4 goblins in the missi= le fire?:)=20 =20 > JN>Sorry, but I don't agree with you on this. <snip> DR> You have a valid point, but when I see groups that are happy to mouth o= ff in a newsletter against my alliance, then we pay them a visit, then they go= NA and alot of allied groups do the same. This is NOT what the NA status was intended to do, it was supposedly for new groups to be protected from the warlike groups and for people to play quest without interacting with the rest of the game players, not as an escape route because the groups had bit= ten off more than they could chew. Just because you have to be peaceful for 10 turns, doesn't mean groups can't go NA quickly. We are hostile and do not allow NA parties into our alliance. The major good alliance, that has alway= s spouted that they will destroy this alliance, has no such rule and has plen= ty of NA groups. So if you'd like to tell the other alliance that they don't need the NA status, we'd be grateful. It would be far better if you could only turn the NA status off and on once= . Therefore any new group would be allowed to start NA then drop the status a= nd see if they enjoy it, leaving them to go NA again if they don't but not allowing them to drop the status again. Older groups would be able to go NA and return from it once and not allowed to set the status again. Something has to be done to stop the abuse of this. > JN> And why would your alliance want to wipe out friendly ot neutral grou= ps?=20 DR> BKA standard policy. If you're not allied to this alliance, you're an enemy. Which is why we are the dominant alliance in G14. > JN> I too would like to see a world with islands and continents. DR> It would be easy to build a new world. The only problem would be the gr= oup number. If people aren't worried if it changes then it could be done very quickly. > AH> One of the main problems, IMO, with OA's is due to another failing of= =20 > Quest in regards to money. > AH> Why is money too easy to come by? Tq's for a start are seriously=20 > flawed. DR> It's just too easy to build up shed loads of cash. Currently my 3 group= s are wandering around with 40000 gold between them. Quests have become too well paid. There should be an upper limit (10000gp?) on quests and the amou= nt of monsters should make a difference.=20 =20 > PD> As you can see there are at least three still missing, 898,901,903. > Help......... DR> 901 =3D Knight Lore > AH> Just a quick note: Has anyone seen anywhere that sells ressurection, > depetrification or major healing?=20 DR> Yes thanks:) Ressurection =3D 1000gp+, Major Healing 200 gp. > RoJ)=09Most my groups are going on holiday through G14 and G15. However > =09I have heard that TNB has been the target of Phoenix rumours? can > =09anyone shed light on this? Is it they`ve chicken from BKA and started > =09on an alliance that`s leader hasn`t entered a turn for months. > =09I aint quit the groups, just awaiting something interesting to happen. > =09Don`t suppose anyone fancies a 100% flee-factor fight? (smirk) DR> No the phoenix is being systematically being wiped out by the BKA, whet= her or not they actually try to do something against TNB is yet to be seen. I suspect that they don't have enough groups that aren't NA to mount an attac= k on a farmer let alone another alliance. I hear JSD is a bit tasty:) > RoJ)=09The membership pack is very nice. i`m sure all the newbie PBMers > =09will gasp in awe and feel compelled to play KJC games. DR> Mmm older players will just see it for the shite it is. > ES> I'm rather new to emails and newsgroups, <etc> DR> Ok I concede but I don't think that groups should be allowed to change the status as they please, regardless of how long it takes. Hostile groups are using it as a 'get out clause' in G14. It's unfair to the players like yourself who had to struggle throught the 'good old days' of offensive spel= l casting in town. Oh and the player you were refering to now no longer plays in G14. Feel free to mail me if you like, everyone else does:) =20 > CC> My FAQ is finally finished. Who wants HTML, ASCII, AmigaGuide OS3, or= =20 > AmigaGuide < OS3 versions? DR> Me please: WB3=20 > "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for..." - U2 DR> Let us know and maybe we could help U2 look for it:) JPG> *groan* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Neil Benson" <9365040@mull.sms.ed.ac.uk> Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 15:47:20 +0000 NB> Some of you may already know that I am writing a PBM game=20 because I belive I can do better than KJC. Kevin refusues to believe=20 that anyone can do better than him (he told me so). An outline of=20 some of my game's ideas is available on request. NB> Large amounts of the game have already been written, so I don't want=20 masses of criticism (wait until you playtest it first), but any=20 imaginative ideas would be appreciated. NB> I hope to begin coding soon, and then start commisioning the=20 artists and draughtsmen. But I can't code, so I'll have to pay=20 someone to do that as well. Just as well I've been saving up, huh? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "M.B.Walker -Ben Walker" <M.B.Walker@open.ac.uk> Date: Fri, 01 Dec 95 16:13:00 GMT First of all I'd like to add my 2gp's worth about the official alliance sho= p=20 routines. It does seem stupid that the gold spent on training can be=20 recycled ad infinitum. Wouldn't it make much more sense if ,say, out of the= =20 200g.p. spent on training the alliance gets 50g.p. back, and the other=20 150g.p. is swallowed up in overheads. That way there isn't the problem of s= o=20 called 'super groups' spending turn after turn 'borrowing' alliance funds t= o=20 'spend' on training. As for the NA order I think it is a great idea for new groups to have the= =20 protection they deserve, but surely even the most passive of 100+ turn=20 groups should be able to defend themselves without resorting to this. Maybe= =20 because I'm in Game 4, which is possibly the most peaceful of all KJC games= ,=20 I've not had to suffer the power players mindless attacks on innocent=20 groups. I think that the idea of a no NA game specifically for war hungry= =20 players is an ideal solution. Am I the only player still not to have got a membership pack ? ASL levels - Is it true that the ASL is for the monster type and not the=20 quantity ? Why not, for example, if goblins have an ASL of 0.5, then 2=20 goblins would set off an ASL of 1, 6 goblins an ASL of 3, etc. I'm sure tha= t=20 even KJC would agree that two ogres are at least twice as dangerous as one. Finally, mirrors have been in the game for years. I've been wandering round= =20 with one in my backpack for the last 100 turns or so. It's not exactly come= =20 in useful but I didn't want to sell it just in case. I found mine down a=20 dungeon (probably lying about on a chair like most things tend to be down= =20 dungeons). It would be nice if it could be used as a 'Deflect Magic' type= =20 item against Medusa's and Basilisk's stares. Well it would if Deflect Magic= =20 wasn't crap to start with. Bye for now Ben -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "M.B.Walker -Ben Walker" <M.B.Walker@open.ac.uk> Date: Fri, 01 Dec 95 16:13:00 GMT Hi Josh! First of all I'd like to add my 2gp's worth about the official alliance sho= p=20 routines. It does seem stupid that the gold spent on training can be=20 recycled ad infinitum. Wouldn't it make much more sense if ,say, out of the= =20 200g.p. spent on training the alliance gets 50g.p. back, and the other=20 150g.p. is swallowed up in overheads. That way there isn't the problem of s= o=20 called 'super groups' spending turn after turn 'borrowing' alliance funds t= o=20 'spend' on training. As for the NA order I think it is a great idea for new groups to have the= =20 protection they deserve, but surely even the most passive of 100+ turn=20 groups should be able to defend themselves without resorting to this. Maybe= =20 because I'm in Game 4, which is possibly the most peaceful of all KJC games= ,=20 I've not had to suffer the power players mindless attacks on innocent=20 groups. I think that the idea of a no NA game specifically for war hungry= =20 players is an ideal solution. Am I the only player still not to have got a membership pack ? ASL levels - Is it true that the ASL is for the monster type and not the=20 quantity ? Why not, for example, if goblins have an ASL of 0.5, then 2=20 goblins would set off an ASL of 1, 6 goblins an ASL of 3, etc. I'm sure tha= t=20 even KJC would agree that two ogres are at least twice as dangerous as one. Finally, mirrors have been in the game for years. I've been wandering round= =20 with one in my backpack for the last 100 turns or so. It's not exactly come= =20 in useful but I didn't want to sell it just in case. I found mine down a=20 dungeon (probably lying about on a chair like most things tend to be down= =20 dungeons). It would be nice if it could be used as a 'Deflect Magic' type= =20 item against Medusa's and Basilisk's stares. Well it would if Deflect Magic= =20 wasn't crap to start with. Bye for now Ben -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 2 Dec 95 18:09:13 GMT From: Dave Rees <chaos@thanes.demon.co.uk> DR> Ok peeps here's the promised update on the IOT2 Vs 6 Monks of Phyloqure= . EW III precast before a prior battle. We cast : Disintegrate (6 Items), Void (One Dead), Flame, Bless. They cast : Nothing Missile round : We hit : 4 * Injury, 3 * lightly hurt (one dead). They hit : Nothing Melee Round 1 : We hit : 11 * Serious Woundings, 1 Lightly hurt (three dead.) They hit : nothing. Apart from the fact that several of my fighters with +3 axes (100%) missed these aren't much cop. I can't draw any conclusion from this at all. Anyway before this combat, I went into a combat with another group who kill= ed one of my HP (62 / 78 / 39 / 53). Any guesses as to how much this will cost= ? I'll let you know next week. One final bizarre thing. On an I0 this turn, I picked up my own hidden HQ e= ven though it had appeared on the shop list and I'd slept there a few times! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 02 Dec 1995 20:17:57 GMT From: Paul@smmad.demon.co.uk (Paul Damms) > AH> Just a quick note: Has anyone seen anywhere that sells ressurection, > depetrification or major healing? I'm curious at how much they are going= =20 > to cost.=20 PD> I play in game 16 and according to my last turn sheet the costs are as= =20 follows, full healing (606) 200 gold, depetrification (629) 500 gold and ressurection (628) 1000+ gold. These services were found at the Baldor temp= le in Xinch (2). What the "+" means after the 1000 for ressurection, I have no= =20 idea. Having lost a 50 skill priest with 48 toughness two turns ago to a gi= ant beetle all I can say is yippee didily do for ressurection! One last thought= ,=20 after a successful black void sucks a character in how are you supposed to= =20 ressurect him with no remains. Reincarnation ??? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 00:28:32 +0100 From: magnuz.aemp@mnet.medstroms.se (Magnus Cassersj=F6) MC>This isn't specific about quest but... Bob McLain (writes a column in Flahship) has started a mailinglist for=20 PBMing and it's quite good and very active (I've been on the list for a=20 couple of days and it generates lots of mails!). So if you're intr send a= =20 mail to pbm-list@pbm.com and set the subject to SUBSCRIBE. Note! This lists generates about 50 mails= =20 per day, but you could allways try it out. JPG> The cheek of advertising another mailing list here! :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jens Loesel <jl@solid.anorg.chemie.uni-frankfurt.de> Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 12:04:05 -0800 JL> Some people just complaint, they get or get not character with skills 50+. Here it is, how it works: For an EM, you get a skill of 30 points. To this you add one d10-die, makes a skill 31 to 40. If you have a super character, (1000+ gold), you get a bonus of another d20 die. (You still see the result of the first die, it is the amount of power points your character has in his first turn). Knowing this, there is a 1 of 200 chance to get both, an EM of skill 32 or 60. 33 or 59 are already 2 of 200. Using statistics, you get out, there is a rougly 30% chance to get a character 50+. The rest is just luck !!! The chance is still 1 out of 6 to get no 50+ character in 5 turns, 1 out of 10, to get 2 50+ characters in 2 turns. You have to try as long as you get the right character. >From my knowledge, you can't change this even with luck (702). Hope, this was of use. Jens Loesel -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 95 10:41:03 GMT From: Phill Coleman <colemanp@cs.man.ac.uk> PJC >> Now as I (like everyone) was once a new and novice party I would hav= e liked a NA option. KjC now have an even better idea - free resurection for parties under the age of 20. BUT why have both! If parties want to be NA wh= y can't they just set a flee factor of 0% (run away every time?). I've nothin= g against parties who want to stay away from combat, but there has to be a happy medium between no combat and combat all the time.=20 PJC >> Which powerful groups enjoy running around and killing brand new par= ties? Surely its more of a challenge fighting (and beating?!) older parties? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Dec 1995 14:16:54 +0000 (GMT) From: Paul Burke <PAUL.BURKE@UCG.IE> PB> 900: Mist Reaver??? Hmm, where did I here that before? Could=20 someone please send me the blurb, and let me examine the description=20 of the monster? Please? The name rings a bell. I haven't the 1st=20 Class in which the new monsters were first announced, but I can't=20 remember the Mist Reaver being mentioned (maybe I'm just stupid, eh?) I know I submitted a monster along the same lines, if not the same=20 name. Does anyone know who thought it up?? Thanks. By the way, I=20 can't find any monsters to fight to see how tough they are, but when=20 I do I'll make a report. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 07 Dec 1995 06:31:24 EST From: "Carl Speed" <carl_speed@uk.ibm.com> =20 COS> Just received my late turn for game 15. The Message from KJC states: =20 We can now receive QUEST turns by Email. Our address is =20 100412.2424@compuserve.com =20 Some points to bear in mind: =20 1) Initially the turns sent this way will be printed ou and then input as normal. This is to see if there is the demand for this service, before we actually spend the programming time automating the process. So it would be very helpful if you lay out the turn in the same format as a turn card and with all the same text that would be there on the turn card, e.g. multiple turns in the same Email should each have the account number on them. Should this prove a popular method of sending in turns, we would eventually decide on a set format for the turn, which would be easier for a computer to read. =20 2) This service is for Quest turns only (at the moment) =20 3) Please stick to plain ASCII characters (A-Z, 0-9 and SPACE) and simple Email options. =20 4) We'll be emptying our Emailbox in the early afternoon (Mon-Fri) =20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- JPG> Carl, thank you for brining that to our attention! I know how _my_=20 next turn is getting sent in...=20 JPG> I don't like paying for my net.connection :( I tried to send this=20 digest out last night, but the connection helpfully died on me at about=20 midnight... Oh well! Happy Questing folks! Keep the material flowing in... >>-Josh-> "But I still haven't found what I'm looking for..." - U2 Up